Some years ago, I stumbled across a simple design exercise that helps people understand and solve complex problems, and like many of these design exercises, it kind of seems trivial at first, but under deep inspection, it turns out that it reveals unexpected truths about the way that we collaborate and make sense of things.
几年前, 我偶然想到一个 帮助人们理解和解决复杂问题的简单构思练习, 像许多这样的构思性练习一样, 一开始都有一点琐碎无聊, 但是在仔细的研究后, 结果发现揭示出了意想不到的事实 有关我们合作和理解事物的方式。
The exercise has three parts and begins with something that we all know how to do, which is how to make toast. It begins with a clean sheet of paper, a felt marker, and without using any words, you begin to draw how to make toast. And most people draw something like this. They draw a loaf of bread, which is sliced, then put into a toaster. The toast is then deposited for some time. It pops up, and then voila! After two minutes, toast and happiness.
这个练习有三个部分, 以我们都知道的怎么做的一件事开始, 那就是如何烤面包片。 首先以一张白纸和一支马克笔开始, 不需要任何语句, 你开始画如何制作烤面包片。 大部分人会画成这样。 他们画一条面包,切成片,然后放入烤面包机。 然后烘烤一会儿。 然后,哗,面包弹了出来。 两分钟后则是,香香的烤面包和幸福。
Now, over the years, I've collected many hundreds of drawings of these toasts, and some of them are very good, because they really illustrate the toast-making process quite clearly. And then there are some that are, well, not so good. They really suck, actually, because you don't know what they're trying to say. Under close inspection, some reveal some aspects of toast-making while hiding others. So there's some that are all about the toast, and all about the transformation of toast. And there's others that are all about the toaster, and the engineers love to draw the mechanics of this. (Laughter) And then there are others that are about people. It's about visualizing the experience that people have. And then there are others that are about the supply chain of making toast that goes all the way back to the store. It goes through the supply chain networks of teleportation and all the way back to the field and wheat, and one all actually goes all the way back to the Big Bang. So it's crazy stuff. But I think it's obvious that even though these drawings are really wildly different, they share a common quality, and I'm wondering if you can see it. Do you see it? What's common about these?
多年来,我已经收集了很多烤面包的画作, 有些画的非常优秀, 因为他们清楚的展示了制作烤面包片的过程。 另外,有一些画成这样的,比较差劲, 他们真的很糟糕, 因为你不知道他们想表达什么。 在仔细的研究后, 一些画作在展示烤面包片的某些方面时 隐藏了其他方面。 有一些只是着重于烤面包, 和面包在备考先后的转化过程。 还有其它的是全关于面包机的, 并且工程师们特别喜欢画面包机的工作原理。 (笑声) 然后还有一些关于刻画人的。 他们将人们的经历可视化。 还有是一些关于制作烤面包的供应链 并且把这过程还原到商店里。 从远距离传输开始, 直到田地和小麦, 甚至有些人从大爆炸开始画起。 这些东西都太疯狂了。 但是我认为很明显的是 即使这些画作都非常的不同, 但是它们都有共同点, 不知道你们发现了没有。 你们看见了么? 它们之间有什么共同点呢?
Most drawings have nodes and links. So nodes represent the tangible objects like the toaster and people, and links represent the connections between the nodes. And it's the combination of links and nodes that produces a full systems model, and it makes our private mental models visible about how we think something works. So that's the value of these things. What's interesting about these systems models is how they reveal our various points of view. So for example, Americans make toast with a toaster. That seems obvious. Whereas many Europeans make toast with a frying pan, of course, and many students make toast with a fire. I don't really understand this. A lot of MBA students do this.
大部分的画作有节点和链接。 节点代表可触及物比如人和烤面包机, 链接则表示每个节点之间的联系。 正是因为这些节点和链接的结合, 才生产出一个完整的系统模型, 这个则把我们个人思考事物如何运作的 思维模式可视化。 这就是这些东西的价值。 这系统模型的有趣之处在于 它们揭示了我们不同的观点。 举个例子,美国人用烤面包机烤面包。 这似乎显而易见, 但是欧洲人用平底锅烤面包, 当然这也是可以的, 而且,很多学生还用火烤面包。 我真的不是很理解。 但是很多 MBA 的学生这样做。
So you can measure the complexity by counting the number of nodes, and the average illustration has between four and eight nodes. Less than that, the drawing seems trivial, but it's quick to understand, and more than 13, the drawing produces a feeling of map shock. It's too complex. So the sweet spot is between 5 and 13. So if you want to communicate something visually, have between five and 13 nodes in your diagram. So though we may not be skilled at drawing, the point is that we intuitively know how to break down complex things into simple things and then bring them back together again.
你可以通过数节点的个数衡量难度, 平均的图画步骤一般在四和八个节点之间, 少于这个节点,画会看上去比较琐碎, 但是易懂, 要是多余 13 个则叫人张目结舌。 因为太复杂了。 所以呢 5 到 13 个节点恰到好处。 如果你想用视觉进行沟通, 那么在你的示意图里要有 5 到 13 个节点。 虽然我们不一定善于绘画, 但关键是 我们的直觉知道如何将复杂的东西简化, 再将它们重新组合起来。
So this brings us to our second part of the exercise, which is how to make toast, but now with sticky notes or with cards. So what happens then? Well, with cards, most people tend to draw clear, more detailed, and more logical nodes. You can see the step by step analysis that takes place, and as they build up their model, they move their nodes around, rearranging them like Lego blocks. Now, though this might seem trivial, it's actually really important. This rapid iteration of expressing and then reflecting and analyzing is really the only way in which we get clarity. It's the essence of the design process. And systems theorists do tell us that the ease with which we can change a representation correlates to our willingness to improve the model. So sticky note systems are not only more fluid, they generally produce way more nodes than static drawings. The drawings are much richer.
这样一来,我们就进入了 这个练习的第二个部分, 就是怎样做烤面包片 但是得用便利贴或卡片表示出来。 接着发生了什么呢? 用卡片呢,大部分人倾向于 画出清晰,有细节, 和更加有逻辑的节点。 你可以看到发生的每一步过程, 当他们建立起他们的模型的时候, 他们移动他们的节点, 就像乐高积木一样重组它们。 虽然现在这看上去无关紧要, 但是实际上这非常重要。 这快速的表达重述和思考与分析 是我们真正唯一明晰原理的方式。 这是设计过程的核心。 系统理论学家的确告诉我们, 改变陈述方式的简单性 与我们改进模型的积极性相关联。 所以呢,使用便利贴绘图不仅更加顺畅, 而且比起在纸上绘图, 它们还会使人们画出更多的节点。 绘画内容也会更加丰富。
And this brings us to our third part of the exercise, which is to draw how to make toast, but this time in a group. So what happens then? Well, here's what happens. It starts out messy, and then it gets really messy, and then it gets messier, but as people refine the models, the best nodes become more prominent, and with each iteration, the model becomes clearer because people build on top of each other's ideas. What emerges is a unified systems model that integrates the diversity of everyone's individual points of view, so that's a really different outcome from what usually happens in meetings, isn't it? So these drawings can contain 20 or more nodes, but participants don't feel map shock because they participate in the building of their models themselves. Now, what's also really interesting, that the groups spontaneously mix and add additional layers of organization to it. To deal with contradictions, for example, they add branching patterns and parallel patterns. Oh, and by the way, if they do it in complete silence, they do it much better and much more quickly. Really interesting -- talking gets in the way.
这便将我们带入这个练习的第三的部分, 就是如何以一个小组的画出 如何烤面包片。 这样会发生什么呢? 这是发生的状况。 开始非常混乱,然后就变的真的很糟糕, 之后变的更加乱了, 但是当人们推敲模型的时候, 最好的节点们变得更加显著, 在经过每一次的重述, 模型便变得更加清晰, 因为人们的想法互相叠加。 这样一来着出现了一个统一的模型 将每个人不同的观点统一起来, 这样就会和我们之前通常看到的结果 大不一样,对不对? 所以,这些画作会包含 20 或更多的节点, 但是,参与者并不会感到混乱 因为他们自己参与了模型的建造。 更有趣的是,将参与组们即兴地混合 和添加组织层次。 为了解决矛盾,比如说, 他们将格局横竖分类。 哦,顺便说一句, 如果他们完全安静的工作, 他们的效率更高,成果也更好。 非常有趣的是——讨论会降低效率。
So here's some key lessons that can emerge from this. First, drawing helps us understand the situations as systems with nodes and their relationships. Movable cards produce better systems models, because we iterate much more fluidly. And then the group notes produce the most comprehensive models because we synthesize several points of view. So that's interesting. When people work together under the right circumstances, group models are much better than individual models.
这个练习带来了一些关键的启发。 首先,绘图帮助我们 用节点的方式 理解不同情况和它们之间的关系。 可移动的卡片生产出更好的模型, 因为我们可以更流畅的重新表述。 其次群体的绘图生产出更加全面的模型 因为我们将各个观点合成。 这很有趣。 当人们在正确的环境下一起工作, 团队模型要比个人模型好很多。
So this approach works really great for drawing how to make toast, but what if you wanted to draw something more relevant or pressing, like your organizational vision, or customer experience, or long-term sustainability?
所以这个方法对于画烤面包非常有效, 但是如果你要画些更加严肃的话题呢? 比如组织远景,或是客户体验, 或是长期的可持续发展。
There's a visual revolution that's taking place as more organizations are addressing their wicked problems by collaboratively drawing them out. And I'm convinced that those who see their world as movable nodes and links really have an edge.
这个视觉上的革命正随着 更多的组织通过集体绘画的方式 来解决那些复杂困难的问题。 我相信那些可以将他们的世界 看作可移动节点和链接的人 会有很大的优势。
And the practice is really pretty simple. You start with a question, you collect the nodes, you refine the nodes, you do it over again, you refine and refine and refine, and the patterns emerge, and the group gets clarity and you answer the question.
这个的实践真的非常简单。 你以一个问题开始,收集节点, 优化节点,反复优化, 不断的优化,便有规律会出现, 组群便明晰起来, 然后你得到了问题的答案。
So this simple act of visualizing and doing over and over again produces some really remarkable outcomes. What's really important to know is that it's the conversations that are the important aspects, not just the models themselves. And these visual frames of reference can grow to several hundreds or even thousands of nodes. So, one example is from an organization called Rodale. Big publishing company. They lost a bunch of money one year, and their executive team for three days visualized their entire practice. And what's interesting is that after visualizing the entire business, systems upon systems, they reclaimed 50 million dollars of revenue, and they also moved from a D rating to an A rating from their customers. Why? Because there's alignment from the executive team. So I'm now on a mission to help organizations solve their wicked problems by using collaborative visualization, and on a site that I've produced called drawtoast.com, I've collected a bunch of best practices. and so you can learn how to run a workshop here, you can learn more about the visual language and the structure of links and nodes that you can apply to general problem-solving, and download examples of various templates for unpacking the thorny problems that we all face in our organizations. So the seemingly trivial design exercise of drawing toast helps us get clear, engaged and aligned.
所以这简单的视觉化行为和不断地优化 产生出一些非常显著的结果。 需要注意的一点是 交流是很重要的, 而不仅仅是模型本身。 这些可视的参考框架 可以有数百甚至上千的节点。 举一个来自罗达尔组织的例子。 那是一个很大的出版公司。 有一年他们损失了很多钱, 他们的执行队伍花了三天将他们的全部经历可视化。 有趣的是,在他们将他们的全部公司可视化之后, 系统叠加系统, 他们重新声明取回了 5 亿美元的财政收入, 他们客户那里的评价也从 D 变成了 A 。 为什么呢?那是因为执行队伍的齐心合作。 所以我现在的任务就是帮助组织们 通过合作可视化的方法解决困难的问题, 在一个 drawtoast.com 的网站上 我收集了一些最棒的实践练习, 你们可以学习怎么运行一个研讨会, 你们可以学习更多视觉语言, 以及你可以运用到综合问题、 解决方法上的节点和链接的结构, 并且可以下载不同的范例模板 去解决我们组织的困难问题。 所以这些看似琐碎的画烤面包的练习, 使我们更加明确,积极,和团结。
So next time you're confronted with an interesting challenge, remember what design has to teach us. Make your ideas visible, tangible, and consequential. It's simple, it's fun, it's powerful, and I believe it's an idea worth celebrating.
所以,下一次你遇到一个有趣的挑战, 记住设计所教会我们的。 让你的主意可视,可触摸,有结果。 这很简单,有趣,强大, 我相信这是一个值得庆祝的主意。
Thank you.
谢谢。
(Applause)
(掌声)